IMF: Jamaica should quicken the pace of reforms

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) resident representative in Kingston, Dr. Gene Leon has revealed that Jamaica is not moving quickly enough to effect necessary reforms under the 27 month standby arrangement.

The standby agreement dictates that, Jamaica lowers the public-sector wage bill from 11.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to 9 percent of GDP by March 2016. Jamaica, has also agreed to tax and pension reforms.

Latest developments indicate that the cabinet has given approval for the sale of the Clarendon Alumina Production (CAP) – this is a critical aspect of the arrangement.

The leader of the opposition People’s National Party (PNP), and former Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller charged that the programme was in dire straits and that Jamaica’s economic future appeared uncertain as a result of the status of the IMF programme.

“The failure of the IMF tests and the uncertainty about the future of the standby agreement have meant that the country has not been able to draw down significant amounts from the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the EU (European Union). This sum is in excess of US$300 million,” Simpson Miller claimed.

Jamaica did not sit review tests for December 2010, March 2011 and June 2011.